Louise coach not fazed by new position

Though the Battle of Mustang Creek hasn't seen much pomp and circumstance this week, the Ganado Indians and Louise Hornets will battle on the football field Friday.

Louise (0-4) has a new head coach in its offensive coordinator Oscar Castillo after coach Danny Villanueva resigned earlier this week to take care of family issues.

Besides explaining to the players about "Coach V's" situation, Castillo said there hasn't been much change on the field.

"Nothing's changed; I've been handling the offense since we began," Castillo said. "I'm anxious to get out on the field."

Castillo said the team took the announcement in stride and understood that family comes first.

Ganado coach Jimmy Thompson said that his team doesn't prepare to play a coach; they prepare to play a team.

"That has no effect on our preparation," Thompson said.

Ganado (3-2) lost by 10 points to Flatonia (3-1) last week.

"We had some breakdowns, which Flatonia did a good job of exploiting," he said. "You can sit there and talk about why you were beat, but this particular time, they just outplayed us."

Louise has had a rough start to the season, losing four out of five games (one was canceled).

In the team's matchup with Ganado, Castillo has focused on "tweaking here and there."

"Changed the way we do things and what order we do them in; we're leaving no stone unturned to give kids a better position to win," he said.

Several of Louise's backup players have moved up to the starting line, including Hunter Koudela, Clay Gonzales and Will Siemens.

One freshman has worked his way through the ranks quickly.

"Carlos Garcia is our everything guy; if we need a quarterback, he's quarterback. Need a receiver? He's a receiver. Need a safety? he's a safety," Castillo said. "Very intelligent for a freshman; we're excited about him."

Kenedy

After a rain-out cancellation against Woodsboro, Kenedy found a replacement game against Junction last week.

Kenedy (2-2) lost 27-26.

"It was a good game that could have gone either way," coach Lin Havron said, adding that he is grateful the team got the chance to play, especially because this Friday's game against Hawkins has been canceled.

One Kenedy player will likely be out for the season after a concussion injury he sustained at the Woodsboro game, Havron said.